Toto: Why Hollywood histrionics may help Trump in 2020

A Donald Trump presidency, the Oscar winner warned, would be “the end of the world.”

Trump did, indeed, become president. And, as you read this, the world has yet to end. In fact, things seem rather…normal.

Perhaps that’s why Lawrence cleared her progressive throat and adopted more measured tones in recent months. Her attempts at bipartisanship flow from her work with RepresentUs, an anti-corruption initiative.

She’s in the Hollywood minority, though.

Plenty of her show business chums are sticking by her apocalyptic vision. It speaks volumes of their collective mindset. More importantly, it could come back to haunt them when it matters most – the critical 2020 presidential election.

Progressive stars have been shrieking about President Trump for some time now. Even seemingly sharp voices like comic maestro Judd Apatow (“Knocked Up,” “The Big Sick”) couldn’t restrain himself. Apatow has called Trump a Nazi, ignoring the historical significance of the slur.

Apatow is hardly alone. Some recent comments, though, suggest something else entirely – a complete disconnect from the world around us.

Let’s start with Rosanna Arquette. The “Pulp Fiction” star Tweeted the following a few days ago regarding America under President Trump: “I just want to wake up and feel some peace and love in the world and not feel terrorized that we are living under a fascist regime as of today.”

It’s hysterical. There’s no other way to describe it. Sure, she’ll point to the “kids in cages” canard regarding Trump’s immigration policies, ignoring how the practice existed during the Obama years.

Otherwise? The image she paints doesn’t square with the country around us.

Amy Poehler must be texting Arquette on a daily basis. The “Parks and Recreation” alum shared her own frenzied take on the Trump years with The Hollywood Reporter: “Women have been rightly and righteously furious about this administration and have been working together and bonding together just in an attempt to make sense of all of it … every woman I know has a text chain, every morning we just say, ‘Can you believe this? Can we break this down together so I don’t lose my mind? Anybody out there?’ Because it’s really crazy-making.”

The rest of us “normals” call it another day in the life. We go to work, feed our kids and tuck the lil’ buggers in at night. That’s what happened when President Obama lived at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. NW. It’s what’s happening around the country today.

Not to be outdone, Jim Carrey shared his own frenzied take on Trump’s America via, where else, social media. The “Dumb and Dumber” star reveals his warped political illustrations on Twitter. They typically target the president or his administration. A recent Carrey Tweet went further: “Let’s all drink a toast to the new king of lies, and the minions who help him while democracy dies.”

Has the Hollywood disconnect ever been so vast?

President Trump has gleefully upset some White House norms, no doubt. You don’t need to read The Daily Kos to wince at Trump’s name-calling shtick. In many other ways, Trump’s presidency has been both conventional and right-leaning in nature.

That doesn’t include other perks from the last two years. Jobs are up. Unemployment is down. Way down, to be exact. Given that context, could Hollywood’s message machine for the 2020 Presidential race look any worse?

Stars aren’t just like us. They live in bigger homes and have access to reporters who can spread every syllable they want to share with the masses. So it’s hard for celebrities to connect with us on a voter to voter level.

What makes that even harder? Describing Trump’s America in ways we can’t see with our own eyes. Arquette’s “fascist” picture doesn’t match our reality. So why should we trust her take on the 2020 election cycle? Or, for that matter, any of her hyperbolic Hollywood peers?

Lawrence has the right idea with her bipartisan outreach. She might just sway a few hearts and minds. At this rate, her Hollywood peers may simply be turning undecideds into reluctant Trump voters.

Christian Toto is editor of the Colorado-based hollywoodintoto.com, The Right Take on Entertainment.